Blade-dispensing container



May 31,1949. 'N. mm 2,472,051

BLADE-DISPENS ING CONTAINER Filed Nov. 15, 1946 IN V EN TOR.

11 VY/ NICHOLAS TESTI.

Fig.3. I By ATTORNEY.

Patented May 31, 1949 BLADE-DISPEN SING CONTAINER Nicholas Testi, Boston, Mass, assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Application November 15, 1946, Serial No. 710,063

5 Claims.

This invention comprises a new and improved blade-dispensing container providing a convenient means of packaging razor blades for distribution and of furnishing the user with a fresh supply of blades completely protected against damage up to the time of use.

The fine cutting edge of a safety razor blade is so delicate in its structure that it is easily damaged by any chance contact that may occur be fore actual use. It is desirable that the manufacturer who has produced the fine edge of the blade under the best possible conditions should also protect and pack the blades so that they may arrive safely in the users razor and be maintained at his disposal until he is ready to proceed with the shaving operation. At that time the user should be able safely to draw fresh blades, one by one, from their container as he may r quire them.

With these conditions in view, an important feature of the present invention consists in a container comprising an elongated casing having an outlet slot in one of its side Walls and a fulcrum member, such as an upright post, located within the said casing adjacent to one end of the outlet slot. Before this casing is closed the manufacturer may load it with a stack of end-notched blades aligned upon the fulcrum member. The casing is then closed and provided with means for swinging a blade selected from the stack about the axis of the fulcrum member and outwardly to an exposed position partially outside the casing. The blade is thus presented in position where it may be conveniently grasped by the user and presented to the safety razor without danger to its shaving edge.

Another feature of the invention consists in an outlet slot for a blade container or the like terminating in an angle more acute than that of the blade bevel. A blade ejected through a slot of this kind will contact with the acutely angled walls of the slot along lines disposed behind the actual cutting edge of the blade and thus positively safeguard it against damage by contact with the walls of the container.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the container showing in dash lines a blade in position for removal;

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a corresponding plan view showing the container with its cover removed;

Fig. 4 is a corresponding view in end elevation;

Fig. 5 is a view in cross section on the line 55 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale showing one end of the outlet slot in the end wall of the container.

The container herein shown is adapted for use with double-edged blades of a well-known commercial type, that is to say, fiat blades substantially rectangular in outline, sharpened on both edges and provided with reentrant corner notches which define elongated unsharpened end portions in the blade. This type of blade has also an elongated median slot provided with spaced enlargements to fit the studs or ribs provided in the safety razor for locating the blade in shaving position.

The container comprises a casing of rectangular outline having a bottom It, upstanding side walls H and 12, end walls M and i5 and a cover I3. The end wall I5 is provided with an upwardlyand inwardly extending ear or lug I9 which securely holds one end of the cover It and in its lower edge is provided and inlet slot i through which a. forked leaf spring may be introduced at the proper time in a position beneath the blade stack.

Within the walls of the casing and near its lefthand end, as shown in Fig. 3, are placed a pair of fulcrum members herein shown as upstanding cylindrical posts lEl. These posts are spaced apart so as to fit into the corner notches of the blades placed in a stack within the shell. At the other end of the casing is provided an integral lug or post 20 adapted to receive a screw 2| by which, in co-operation with the lug it, the cover 13 is held securely in place.

The cover 13 is provided with a wide slot 22 opening into the interior of the casing and above this slot is arranged to swing an arm 23 pivotally mounted on a stud 24 which projects from the cover I3. The arm 23 is provided at its free end with a down-turned detent best shown in Fig. 5. This arm 23 is formed of resilient metal so that it tends normally to stand in the full line position shown in Fig. 5 clearing the uppermost blade 26 in the stack. However, a light pressure serves to depress the arm and carry its detent into its dotted line position wherein it will engage the uppermost blade of the stack.

A leaf spring ll, shown in Figs. 4 and 5, is fastened at one end as by solder or welding to the bottom H) of the container. At its other end it carries an upstanding stud [8 of such diameter as to fit freely into one of the enlargements in the median slot of the blades of the stack and having a rounded upper end disposed at the level of the uppermost blade in the stack. The stack is thus positioned by the two posts 19, which hold one end ofthe stack, and by the stud 18 which holds the other end of the stack. These elements co-operate to maintain the cutting edges of the blade at all times out of contact with the side walls II and [2 of the casing.

The casing is provided with an outlet slot formed partly in the side wall I I and partly in the end wall I4. The slot is of sufficient width to permit the free passage of a single blade and at both ends terminates in a sharp angle which, as shown in Fig. 6, is more acute than the bevel of the blade 26.

The container hereinabove described may be loaded by the manufacturer before the cover I3 is put in place, the blades being definitely located therein by the posts l9 and the stud [8. The forked leaf spring 21 is then inserted through the slot 1 beneath the blade stack and the blade stack thereafter is held yieldingly upwardly against the inner face of the cover I3 of the container. The spring l1 carrying the stud I8 lies between the forks of the spring 21 and is spaced out of contact therewith.

Now, when it is desired to remove a blade from a the container, the arm 23 is depressed and the uppermost blade in the stack engaged by its detent. The arm is thereupon swung outwardly as suggested in Fig. 1 and the uppermost blade in the stack is swung with it about the post l9, which is the nearer of the two to the exit slot, into the position indicated by dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 3. When pressure upon the arm 23 is relieved, the blade is disengaged and the arm may be returned freely to its initial position as shown in. Fig. 1. The blade, on the other hand, is left in a partially projecting position where it may be readily grasped and removed by the user, all without any danger of damage to either of its sharpened edges.

It will be understood that when the uppermost blade of the stack is swung transversely by manipulation of the arm 23 it rides over the convex end of the spring-mounted stud I8, thereby depressing the stud sufficiently to admit the passage of the uppermost blade but leaving it in position to prevent any displacement of the second blade in the stack Outward movement of the arm 23 is arrested when its detent engages the outer edge of the slot 22 in the cover [3 and the delivery position of the blade is thus determined.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A blade-dispensing container comprising a substantially rectangular casing having an outlet slot in one side, an upright post located within said casing adjacent to one end of the slot therein, a stack of end-notched blades aligned upon said post, and means for swinging the blades of the stack successively about the said post as an axis to an exposed position partially outside the casing.

2. A blade-dispensing container, comprising walls provided with an outlet slot, a pair of posts within the casing adjacent to one end thereof, a stack of comer-notched double-edge blades located by the said posts with their edges clear of the walls of the casing, and means for swinging a blade selected from the stack about the axis of one of said posts and out through the said outlet slot.

3. A blade-dispensing container, comprising an elongated casing having an outlet slot in one side terminating in acutely tapered ends, a fulcrum member located within the enclosure of the easing adjacent to one end of the slot, end-notched blades within the casing, and means for swinging one blade at a time about the fulcrum member and out through the said outlet slot.

4. A blade dispenser including walls and a stationary cover forming an elongated enclosure having a side outlet slot, means for locating a stack of corner-notched blades in superposed relation within the enclosure, a fulcrum member located wholly within the enclosure and fitting the notches in one corner of the said blades, and means movable from outside the enclosure for swinging the uppermost blade from its position in the stack,.about the said fulcrum member and outwardly through the said outlet slot.

5. A blade-dispensing container comprising an elongated enclosure having an exit slot in one side, an enclosed stack of slotted blades, means within the enclosure for positioning the blade stack including a stud with a convex end, a leaf spring supporting the stud yieldingly above the bottom of the enclosure, a forked spring clearing said leaf spring and supporting the blade stack on both sides of the stud, and means for moving the uppermost blade in the stack across the top of the stud.

NICHOLAS TESTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,410,311 Steinbach Oct. 29, 1946 2,418,677 Testi Oct. 8, 1947 

